Military rules. Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu with its treatise “Bin Fa” laid the foundations for the development of military art in the countries of the Far East. During the Chinese Dynasty of Song, during the years of the motto of the Yuan-Feng (1078-1085), the Sun Tzu bin Fa, by decree of Emperor Shen-Zun, was officially declared the first among the Seven Books of the Military Canon, proposed as a educational leadership. Sun Tzu significantly influenced Chinese culture, as well as the cultures of Korea, Vietnam and Japan. The study of the Sun-Tzu treatise has always been in these countries the necessary element of higher military education. It is generally considered “Sun Tzu bin Fa” by a military treatise intended primarily for military leaders. But how true is this? Indeed, for a military treatise there are too many general reasoning and too little applied military specifics. Let us suggest that “bin fa” is not a military, but a political treatise on how to become a hegemone of the Middle Kingdom. The military aspects appearing in the treatise are just a means of achieving the goal.